'Profoundly moving' story of neuroscientist's brain disorder to Transworld

Transworld is to publish the "extraordinary" story of neuroscientist Dr Barbara Lipska’s own brain "going awry".

The publisher bought UK and Commonwealth (excluding Canada) rights from Zachary Shuster Harmsworth to The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind by Dr Lipska.

The publisher said: "All we dream about, think and feel, all the things we do, everything that makes us who we are, comes from the brain. So what happens when the brain fails? What happens when we lose our mind?"

In January 2015, renowned neuroscientist Barbara Lipska received the devastating news that she had melanoma. By summer the cancer had spread to her brain, which started playing tricks on her. She began to exhibit paranoia and schizophrenia-like symptoms. The expert on mental illness – who had spent a career trying to work out how the brain operates and what happens when it fails – experienced what it is like to go mad. She got lost driving home from work, a journey she did every day. She sent incoherent emails, full of capital letters and typos, to family and colleagues. She became disinhibited – going for a run with a head full of hair dye streaming down her face. And she remembers everything with absolute clarity.

Weaving the science of the mind and the biology of the brain into her own personal story, Dr Lipska tells the "profoundly moving" account of her own brain gone awry.

Transworld editorial director Andrea Henry said: "This personal and intimate piece of writing is also scientifically accurate and ground-breaking, offering real insight into mental illness − and the way society responds to people with mental illness − and the aging brain. One of the big questions is what happens to our persona when the brain breaks down and Dr Lipska’s extraordinary insight, gleaned from her own experience, provides a completely compelling answer."

The deal was made through Esmond Harmsworth at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth.